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It is a cold day in New York, one of the coldest they have had in years. Peter is sitting in class, slightly freezing, listening to the old ratty heater trying to keep up with the room's temperature. Which for Peter's taste was a little too cold. He can't seem to focus on what his teacher is droning on about. All he can think about is how excited he was to be seeing Tony as soon as school lets-
RIIIIIIIINGGGGG!
His phone starts ringing and he could have sworn it was on silent. His teacher, Mrs Watson, looks at him and tells him, "You know the rules Peter, answer it on speaker."
Peter sighs and gets the phone out of his bag. He sees it is Pepper calling him and he gulps, 'This isn't good,' he thought. Pepper never calls him during school unless its an emergency.
"Hello?" He answers and puts the call on speaker.
"Oh Pete, thank god. We need you desperately. It's Tony." Pepper's voice is heard through the device in his hand.
Peter gets worried, "Oh my god, is he ok? What happened?" he answers, ignoring the looks his classmates are giving him because he is talking to the Pepper Potts.
"When you get here, you'll see. Happy is waiting for you and he will sign you out."
"Ok, Mo-Ms. Potts. I'll see you in a little bit. Are you sure he's ok?" Peter begins fidgeting with his fingers, hoping, wishing, she will let him in on what's going on with his mentor.
"You'll see. He needs you buddy," Pepper hangs up before he can and his cheeks instantly turn red as everyone in the class turns to stare at him and whisper. True to her word, the classroom phone starts to ring no less than a minute later. Mrs Watson picks up and lets Peter know he is being dismissed. He picks up his bag and walks to the main door. There he saw Happy waiting for him as promised.
"Hey kid," Happy greets in his signature monotone voice. He ushers Peter to the familiar black SUV. When they both get settled, Peter notices the divider between the two is not in its normal place.
"Happy?" Peter questions. Happy's eyes meet his in the mirror, "What's wrong with Da-Mr. Stark? Is he ok?" Peter rapid fires at Happy. The teenager is fidgeting with the straps on his backpack. Happy flags that immediately. He can't help but feel bad.
"Didn't Pepper tell you?" the man asks, Peter shakes his head, "I think its best if we let her show you." Peter nods and continues fidgeting with anything he can get his hands on, waiting for the agony of the two minute drive to be over. As the two get closer to the tower, Peter digs through his bag and finds a click pen. He clicks it and his knee shakes and bounces.
Finally, Happy pulls into the back of the tower. He ushers Peter into the elevator and asks FRIDAY to bring them to Pepper.
In the penthouse, Pepper is pacing back and forth. Tony won't leave the lab, hasn't eaten in days, hasn't slept in longer. He attempted to have FRIDAY lock down his area so no one else could get in, however, the AI was getting increasingly concerned about the man so she allowed Pepper in. Suddenly, the elevator dings and in comes her little ball of anxious energy.
Peter runs up to her, "Ms. Potts, what's going on? Is he ok? What happened? Why did you get me out early?" he asks her faster than she can keep up. She pulls the boy into a tight hug, smiling slightly when he relaxes into her embrace.
When she pulls back, she begins to speak, "Tony needs you,Pete, it isn't a pretty sight."
"Can I go see him..." Peter trails off, looking towards the hallway leading to the lab. Instead of answering, Pepper ushers him to the lab. The door is once again locked.
"Hey, FRI," Pepper starts, "Let us in?"
"Boss doesn't want any visitors," the AI almost sounds apologetic.
"Please FRI?" Peter pouts at her cameras, knowing that she cannot say no to him. In that moment she has to make a choice, ignore her boss' wishes and let them in or let her creator sit in his own filth and self pity.
"Boss has ordered no visitors, however, his isolation I believe is making it worse," They hear a click and the door opens. Pepper opens it and she and Peter walk in.
The sight laid out in front of the two is not pretty. Tony is sitting staring at his desk. All of his monitors are displaying plans for a new suit that clearly are being ignored. The man himself does not look good, his eyes have dark bags under them, his usually perfectly maintained facial hair is grown out and messy. His hair looks like a rats nest, presumably due to him running his hands through it, an anxious habit he picked up from Peter. Then Peter spots it. A bottle of whiskey. Unopened and sitting on his desk. Just within the man's reach.
Peter watches as he starts to reach for the bottle and then pull his hand back. He knew something had to have happened. His mentor wouldn't give up his sobriety over nothing. When he met Peter, he gave up all alcohol.
At this point, he interrupts, "Mr. Stark, no!". Tony whips around, trying to hide the whiskey behind his back.
"What are you doing here, Pete? FRIDAY shouldn't have you in," Tony begins panicking. His kid was standing there for god knows how long watching him almost drink, over and over.
"FRIDAY was worried about you, Da-Mr. Stark," Peter answers. Normally, Tony would catch when Peter slips and almost calls him and Pepper Mom and Dad. It usually makes him smile and tease his kid, not this time. This time he doesn't realize.
She has watched him almost break sobriety more times than she can count, however, never this close. She's seen him with panic in his eyes, searching for a drink. She's seen him shut people out. She's seen him lock himself in the lab. What she has never seen, is him reaching. stopping then reaching. She knew he had that bottle. She knew it has been there for years.
Peter has never seen his mentor like this. He knew he was in recovery, he knew Tony suffers from PTSD, anxiety, depression and yet, he has never been on the front lines on any struggle. He wasn't stupid, he knew that Tony had rough days, but he never let him see.
Tony didn't notice Pepper's presence until she tries to grab the bottle from him. She catches him off guard and manages to grab the bottle without him noticing. Once Pepper has the bottle, Peter runs over and hugs his father figure. After a few seconds, Tony's face and fingers are buried in his kid's hair. Peter feels his hair getting damp. He realizes the older man is crying.
"Pepper brings the bottle back to the kitchen so it isn't within easy reach of her fiancee. When she comes back, she sees that Peter and Tony relocated to the lab couch. Tony managed to fall asleep with Peter curled around him. She has a suspicion he hasn't slept in a lot longer than he was letting on.
"Hey Pete, why don't you go get a snack and watch something on TV? I will sit with him for a bit," Pepper asks.
"Will Mr Stark be ok? That was really scary. I don't want him to relapse..." Peter trails off, looking worried. He has already lost so many people in his life. He can't afford another one.
"He will be just fine, baby. Go watch a movie. I'll check on you in a bit." Pepper ushers him out of the room, wanting to be alone with her fiancee. Carefully, she takes Peter's place when he gets up. Pepper wants to get to the bottom of what happened these last few days. When she sits next to him, he curls up into her and slowly starts to wake.
"Hey honey," She whispers, playing with his hair.
Tony starts to wake slowly from Pepper's fingers in his hair. He is confused for a moment becuase the last thing he remembers was sitting at his desk working, "Why am I on the couch?" Then, he looks around. Notices the missing bottle.
That bottle had been there since they built the tower. One of the bottles they bought for celebration before well everything. That bottle was always supposed to be a happy memory. Instead it turned into a reminder of yet another battle he almost lost, then a reminder of the sobriety he worked so hard to reach. He always kept it on a high shelf above his desk.
"Where..?" He questions, looking up at his fiancée.
"I moved it," She answered.
He starts to slowly remember. First he remembers the date. December sixteenth. The anniversary of his parents' passing.
"Did..?"
"Yes, Peter did see." Pepper always knows exactly what he's thinking. She was always good at that.
"God.." Tony trails off.
"What's bothering you, Tones?"
"It's December.."
A realization hits Pepper like a freight train. "You don't usually come so close to relapsing.. What else is going on?"
"Peter.." Tony trails off, thinking of his kid. Thinking of how ashamed he is that his kid saw him in that state, "He's fifteen, Pep.. that's the age I was when I lost them," his voice just barely above a whisper, "Just kept thinking about him living through this grief. The one that should be getting better every year. When I met him and got close with him, all I could think was that I finally understood all the worry they had.." Tony trailed off, leaning into Pepper's chest.
"Tony.." Pepper's voice also barely a whisper.
In that moment, it all clicked.
His reason for doing anything lately has been Peter. It started with a proud smile at his Avengers invite being rejected, to taking more responsibility with him and suddenly they all became a family.
~~~~~~~
Peter is on the couch watching a movie, fidgeting with a loose thread on the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He hopes Tony is ok.
"Hey FRI? Are they ok?" He asks.
"Yes Mini boss. It appears Boss and Mrs Boss are talking."
In an instant Peter is up and pacing. He wants to go check on them. He wants to make sure his dad is ok. He was terrified seeing him reach for that bottle. He didn't like seeing Tony look at him like he wasn't even there.
Peter starts to make his way to the kitchen. He walks in and the first thing he sees is the bottle. The bottle Tony reached for over and over. The bottle that Pepper took away. Sitting there on the counter. Waiting. Peter turned back and walked out. He didn't notice that he went straight past his parents and down into the lab.
When Peter gets down there, he looks around and doesn't see anyone. Before he knows it, tears are starting to run down his face, wondering what he did wrong to cause them to leave. Was he the cause of Tony relapsing? Were they so mad at him that they left him here all by himself?
"FRIDAY..?" His voice watery, "Where are they?" When FRIDAY doesn't respond he starts hyperventilating and stumbles back. He knocks over one of Tony's tool carts. When all of the tools fall and make loud clunks, Peter jumps a million miles and snaps up to try to pick them up before Tony or Pepper notice.
Instead of answering Peter, she alerts the couple upstairs, "Mrs Boss, it appears Mini Boss is in distress in the lab."
Tony perks up immediately and is running down to the lab before Pepper even realizes what's happening. She stands and follows him. Together, they rush to the lab. Quickly throwing the door open, they take the little steps down.
What Tony sees breaks his heart. There in front of him, is his sweet, innocent, brilliant kid crying, hyperventilating, hands shaking as he rushes to pick some tools up. He didn't remember those being thrown all over the floor.
"Pete? Bambino?" Tony asks, much softer than he intended. Peter's head snaps up at hearing the older man's voice. Relief floods his body instantly. Tony is ok. He doesn't look so good but, he's alive. He's not drunk. Peter doesn't dare to speak, just looking at Tony like a deer in headlights.
Tony never wants to see his kid looking at him like that again. As if he were terrified to be in trouble if he didn't pick up those tools. He never wants to see his baby struggling to breathe properly. He did this. He caused this pain. Slowly, he opens his arms.
"Come here baby," Tony's voice breaking. Peter carefully, slowly, moves toward Tony. Slowly he falls into Tony's chest. Gripping the fabric of his shirt with a grip Tony didn't think was possible.
"I'm sorry," The young boy cries so quietly Tony has to strain to hear. Tony isn't quite sure why his kid is apologizing. "I'm so sorry..."
Tony's face shifts as he looks down at his kid. Suddenly he remembers. He remembers looking straight through Peter, he remembers fighting to not drink and almost taking that drink. He hears his boy screaming at him. His grip on Peter gets tighter. As if he is trying to keep him from floating away.
"You're okay, bambino. What's-" Tony looks up at his fiancee. In that moment, he knows what is going through the boy's mind, "No," His voice is softer than he even thought possible, "You did not cause what happened earlier, you hear me?" His voice breaking with each word whispered into his son's hair.
"I did. I did. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Tony gently begins to stand with Peter still against his chest. Slowly at first, holding back groans at his sleep deprived body aching all over. His knees threaten to give out, but Peter never slips. Slowly moving them to the couch. Looking at Pepper, nodding his head for her to come over.
She quietly moves from her position in the door over to the couch, unsure of herself in this moment. Unsure if she belongs in this moment. When she is close enough, Tony's hand shoots out and grabs hers. She is being dragged onto the couch and lands against her boys.
The only thing Tony notices is Peter's rough breathing. "Hey bud, breathe with me," Takes a deep breath and waits for Peter to copy him. Little by little, between Tony and Pepper's steady heartbeats and steady breathing, Peter's returns to normal. As soon as it does, Pepper's arms find their way around them both, hugging them into her. For a moment, Tony allows them to just exist in this moment. In the feeling of his fiancee and son in his arms, breathing and alive.